Business leaders met at the World Economic Forum in Cape Town, South Africa, to take stock of the progresses achieved over the past year by the Business Call to Action, a global effort focused on challenging big businesses to move beyond philanthropy to implement inclusive business initiatives that apply their core business and skills in a transformative and scalable manner, which in turn will enhance growth and contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
At the meeting in Cape Town, companies celebrated the progress made so far, showcasing their success stories and lesson learned.The organizers of the event, along with African ministers, called on companies in Africa to sign and launch new business initiatives that promote sustainable development and combat poverty.
“The Business Call to Action builds upon the enlightened self-interest of the private sector to find financial gains while contributing to development and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals,” said Bruce Jenks, Director of the Partnership Bureau at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). “At a time when global business leaders are facing difficult decisions about how to manage growing costs and dwindling profits, it is even more important for companies to boldly explore business models that include the poor in their core strategies, and take advantage of new business opportunities.”
The Business Call to Action (see video of 4 minutes) was launched by UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and UNDP at a high level event for CEOs held in London on 6 May 2008. Members of the Business Call to Action International Partnership, which was announced in September 2008, include the UK Government, AusAid, UNDP, Clinton Global Initiative, The International Business Leaders Forum and the UN Global Compact.
In its first year more than 60 CEOs signed the Business Call to Action Declaration and committed their companies to invest in ending poverty. To date, 18 companies have already launched initiatives creating thousands of jobs, establishing hundreds of small independent businesses and increasing trade with, and sourcing from, Africa and Asia.
Highlights of these inclusive business initiatives:
- Coca Cola has set up 700 small distribution centers, creating 4500 new jobs.
- Diageo is investing in the development of sorghum to support its brewing operations in Cameroon by providing support to farmers as well as developing transport and storage systems.
- ASDA has significantly increased it sources of fresh produce from Africa and is investigating importing new products.
- Microsoft has launched it Students to Business Programme in Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Nigeria, Kenya and Senegal.
- PepsiCo has begun a pilot in South Africa on improving nutrition for children and pregnant women.
- SABMiller is on its way to doubling the amount of barley it sources from India. The initiative is benefiting around 7500 farmers.
- Standard Chartered is proceeding with training small businesses in Pakistan – conducting multiple workshops in several cities.
- Sumitomo is opening a stitching factory in Ethiopia this month that will process 3 million bed nets a year and employ 300 people.
- Thomson Reuters is providing accurate, timely and personalized information on more than 125 crop types to 400 markets in India. The program benefits over a million farmers in India, increasing their profits and savings in losses.
- Vodafone now has more than 6 million people using its mobile money transfer service and is developing its initiative to include new services.
- Cadbury is moving to make its Cadbury Dairy Milk brand Fairtrade in the UK and is working to help 100 Cocoa Partnership communities achieve Fairtrade certification.
- MAP International has biometrically enrolled over 50,000 Ugandans in its Integrated Banking Platform and hundreds of thousands of transactions have taken place over their network of ATMs, Point Of Sale units and mobile phones.
- Ericsson’s Innovation Centre in Sub-Saharan Africa has produced a number of mobile applications that focus on solutions in health, education, agriculture and small business investments.
- Cisco Systems is currently establishing a number of Connected Community Research Centres (CCRC) in Kenya to bring a range of affordable services to the local residents. The on-line services focus on e-government, education, healthcare and vocational training.
More information: · Business Call to Action website · El Llamamiento a la Acción Empresarial (BCTA, por sus siglas en inglés) insta a las empresas a poner en práctica iniciativas de negocios inclusivos que utilicen sus negocios básicos y sus conocimientos de manera transformadora y creciente, que lleve a mejorar el crecimiento y a generar riqueza. No se trata de alentar la filantropía o la responsabilidad social corporativa, sino de producir ideas empresariales que sean viables comercialmente y que ayuden a alcanzar los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio.
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